Gentle Guardian

An ECK Master Appears at My Patient's Bedside

By MB

Twelve years ago, before I was in Eckankar,
I worked as a nurse in a coronary intensive care unit. One day
the charge nurse said, "Why don't you take care of this patient, Mary.
I think she'd enjoy your care."

The woman's name was Ann. Following a heart attack in which she nearly died,
she was seeing into other dimensions of reality. The other nurses thought
she was confused and hallucinating. I knew she wasn't.

One day I came in to find her chatting away with her Aunt Bertha
and Uncle Fred, who had both translated (died) years ago.
She asked if I could see them.

"No, but I believe you can," I replied.

"Other people think I'm crazy," she said.

I assured her that I didn't. Over the next few days I asked her if
she could see anyone else.

"Yes, there is someone in the corner of the room," she said.
She called him the Dark Angel and said she didn't
like him very much. She didn't think he was bad, just severe.
He was waiting for her. She didn't like to look at
him since his presence meant she was going to die.

"Let's pray together, and we'll ask God to send somebody else," I offered.
The only prayer we both knew was the Lord's Prayer, so we said that together.
When we finished, she looked over in the corner again. The
Dark Angel was gone. Another man with black, curly hair and
dark eyes had taken his place. He was wearing a dark red robe
with a rope for a belt and sandals. He carried a tall staff.

"He looks like a monk. He has the most beautiful eyes," Ann said.

I asked his name, and she replied, "Ra . . . buzzer."

"His name is Bizarre?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't know what it is. It's Rumpelstiltskin," she said,
referring to the old children's story. I could see
she was getting agitated, so we stopped talking about it.

For the rest of her stay in the hospital, the man in a maroon robe
stood in the corner of Ann's room. She took a great deal of comfort
from his presence.

Nine months after caring for Ann, I went to an ECK
center and saw pictures of the ECK Masters for the
first time. I recognized Rebazar Tarzs as the Master
who had brought such comfort to my patient during
her illness. He is the ECK Master who helped Paul
Twitchell
establish Eckankar as a modern-day teaching.